St. Augustine of Canterbury parishioner begins formation to priesthood

Growing up in the spiritual home of St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, Brother Nicholas Riccardi said had a “strong sense of closeness” to Mary, the mother of Jesus, “even at a young age.”
On Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother into Heaven, that closeness inspired Brother Nicholas to be one of five men who professed their first vows as members of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary at Mass at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, Stockbridge, Mass.
Father Kazimierz Chwalek, provincial superior, accepted and confirmed their one-year vows on behalf of the Marian Fathers, a congregation of about 500 priests and brothers in 20 countries around the world who seek to lead souls to Jesus through Mary.
“My family would always pray a rosary together sometime after dinner and it was in my elementary years when I had made my first consecration to her using St. Louis de Montfort’s guide [“Total Consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary”],” said Brother Nicholas in an interview a couple weeks after the Mass.
“Fostering a devotion to Mary was intuitive for me because of my relationship with my mother, Laura Riccardi. After all, children are able to recognize and develop a relationship with God and Mary through the example of their parents. My parents [Laura and Len], at all points in my life, were beyond exemplary.”
Brother Nicholas, 21, noted that Mary is such a part of his community’s life because it bears her name three times in its title. “By carrying her name it is our responsibility and joy to live out that blissful mystery of the Immaculate Conception,” he said. “As her children, we are called to be made immaculate like her in all things. There is never a day when she is not part of our daily life.”
During and after the profession of vows ceremony, Brother Nicholas said, his overwhelming feeling was “a profound sense of deep rest and peace.”
“There is no greater joy that can be offered from God than the life that he lived himself — a life lived in poverty, chastity, and obedience. I cannot express in words what my heart knows and continues to experience,” he added.
As a seminarian, Brother Nicholas will study to earn a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Franciscan University, Steubenville, Ohio. After that, he will continue his formation to the priesthood at the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C., where he plans to earn a Master of Divinity degree.
How and where he will exercise his ministry as a priest for the Marian Fathers will be determined after he is ordained.
As for what advice he would give to someone considering a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, Brother Nicholas said it is “a reiteration of what one of my vocation directors told me not too long ago: ‘Go all in. If you think you are called, give it everything. Don’t just dip your toes in the water but immerse yourself in it.’”
According to his mother, Brother Nicholas was home-schooled from kindergarten to fifth grade, then attended St. Augustine of Canterbury School from grades six to eight.
He attended Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, for ninth and 10th grades, then was home-schooled his junior and senior years.
Brother Nicholas attended Ave Maria University (Fla.) for three semesters before joining the Marians at age 20 at their house in Washington, D.C. He made his Marian consecration (St Louis de Montfort) when he was in the fourth grade at the National Shrine which, she said, “coincidently or God-incidentally, was a stone’s throw away from the Marian Fathers residence on the campus of Catholic University.”
Laura said she is not surprised that her son was eventually led to a religious community that “seeks to lead souls to Jesus through Mary” because it is “a very natural outcome of the entrustment he lives.”
“We are so grateful to our Blessed Mother for the tenderness and affection she has shown all of our children and her constant care in bringing them to a closer relationship with Our Lord,” she said.
When asked how she and her husband felt about being present at his first vows, Laura said, “It is a joy to witness [Brother] Nicholas’ whole-hearted response to God’s loving invitation to become a priest.  My husband, Len, and I have always counseled our four children to seek God's will in their lives, telling them that every vocation is holy but that true happiness can only be found when one fully becomes who God created them to be.
“The best parenting advice we ever received was to consecrate each of our babies in the womb to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Giving our children to Mary was the greatest assurance we could have that they would always stay close to Jesus. Len and I made our own personal Marian consecration over 15 years ago and each of our children, on their own initiative, also made a personal consecration to Mary.  We do believe this was the fruit of praying the family rosary together for many years.”
She noted with a laugh that the couple prayed a 54-day novena in advance, asking the Blessed Mother for the grace to say the rosary every day with four small children.
During the ceremony, the men took the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience for one year. With the vows, they became brothers. Following the profession, Father Chwalek said, “I earnestly commend you to God Almighty and to Mary Immaculate, our mother and patroness, that you may be able to joyfully and faithfully carry out your vows, unite with God, [and] attain holiness and eternal life.”
He then presented the new brothers with the Blue Scapular of Our Lady, which serves as a sign of honoring and imitating Mary, an invitation for the wearer “to give Christ ... your undivided service in the Church.”
The new brothers then walked to the sacristy where, for the first time, they donned ecclesiastic garments. The change of clothing — from the white shirts and black pants of novices to black clerical garb — symbolizes the putting away of the old life and the taking up of the new.
Father Chwalek prayed that God “remove from your heart the vanity of this world, which you renounced at your baptism. May the Lord vest you in ‘the new man,’ who was created according to God in justice and true holiness.”
Since 1945, Marian Press, the publishing apostolate of the Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, has published and distributed millions of religious books, magazines, brochures, and pamphlets that teach, encourage, and edify Catholics around the world. Marian Press publications promote the ministry and work of the Marians, according to the congregation’s website.
Marian Press is best known as the exclusive publisher of the best-selling “Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska” and the leading authority of The Divine Mercy message and devotion.